Posts Tagged ‘Israeli Embassy’

The Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in Berlin had already arranged for a place to sleep, and a place at the seder table.

But the 22-year-old Israeli man never arrived.

That Friday night, there was a lot of excitement and chaos as usual in managing a public seder. It wasn’t until early Sunday morning that Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, community rabbi of Berlin and the director of the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Education Center found out why the young man didn’t show up.

Teichtal told the Associated Press, “A man in his early 20s came to us during the day last Friday and didn’t have a place to sleep, and didn’t have anything to eat… We arranged everything for him,” Teichtal continued, “but then he didn’t show up again.”

A fellow rabbi had indeed arranged for the young man to sleep at a community center, located near the Alexanderplatz public square in the central Mitte district of Berlin.

The location is less than a mile from where the young man’s body was found by passersby early Sunday morning, in a ruined Franciscan monastery in the central Alexanderplatz area next to a well-used exit from a subway station.

Identification was difficult to establish due to “massive injuries to his head” and severe injuries to the body, police said. But when they found a passport in the back pocket of the victim’s sweatpants, police contacted the Israeli Embassy.

Berlin police have also told journalists that three people so far have come forward and provided information in the case.

The Israel Embassy said in a statement that its Consul, Eyal Siso, received confirmation of the victim’s identity, but declined to release the details at the request of the victim’s family.

Anti-Semitism — and Israeli Immigration — Rising in Germany Between 20,000 to 30,000 Israelis have moved to Berlin over the past few years, despite the rise in anti-Semitism in Europe in general and also in Germany.

Berlin is known for its vibrant Jewish community, which has grown with the influx of Jews from Israel and elsewhere around the world.

But in 2013, there were 1,275 anti-Semitic offenses recorded in Germany, including 1,218 perpetrated by members of the extreme Right. Thirty-one incidents were attributed to foreigners, and 26 were carried out by others, according to the Coordination Forum for Countering Antisemitism.

Anti-Semitic Incidents Grow in 2015 In March 2015 alone, there were seven reported anti-Semitic incidents in Germany, among the many others reported elsewhere as well. Following are brief descriptions of what happened just last month in Germany:

In Offenbach, Germany, a Turkish soccer club published an ad in Turkish that included the slogan, “Don’t give your money to Jewish insurance company Allianz.” The club has since renounced the ad.

Also in March, the gate to the Jewish cemetery in the German community of Osterburg was destroyed. Vandals broke the locks so the gate cannot be closed, with a swastika carved into the metal on a Star of David. The wall was also cracked. Vehicle marks are visible on the road as well.

The same day, German neo-Nazis in “The Right” political group sent one-way flight boarding passes to Jewish organizations as a means of joining the international discussion about the security of European Jewry.

Also that day: In Murnau am Staffelsee, a vandal sprayed a swastika and the words “Arbeit macht frei” (the famous death camp slogan ‘Work sets one free”) on the ceiling of the recess hall at the city high school.

In Stralsund, an obscene form of grafitti was found scrawled on the “Haus der Gewerkschaften” (Unions House) and aimed at a picture of a Star of David. Below, the symbol for Anarchist was scrawled as well, but in different handwriting.

An attack on the Israeli embassy in Athens on Friday has been blamed on the continuing anti-Israel incitement disseminated around the world by the Palestinian Authority.

Foreign Ministry officials said in a statement over the weekend, “The international community must condemn this continuing incitement that leads to these results.

“Israel thanks the Greek authorities for their close cooperation in investigating the incident,” a Foreign Ministry person said.

“We are hopeful that the perpetrators will be caught and punished.”

The embassy building was sprayed with gunfire at 3:20 am Friday, according to the AFP news agency. Two gunmen riding on the back of motorcycles had aimed at least 54 rounds from a Kalashnikov while passing the embassy, situated at the corner of a busy intersection in an affluent northern Athens suburb.

“There were two bursts of gunfire … they must have emptied an entire clip,” a gas station attendant told reporters in a television news report.

Kalashnikov assault rifles used in the attack were also used in a similar assault on the German ambassador’s residence last December, Greek police said. They told reporters late Friday a far-left group, the People’s Fighter Group, was likely responsible for the attack. Both American and German offices have been targeted by terrorists in previous attacks last year, and in 2007.

But government minister Vassilis Kikilias told the Ana news agency while inspecting the scene of the attack, “No one is going to affect the relations between Greece and Israel.” Government spokesperson Sophia Vultepsi added that Athens is taking “determined steps” against terror groups.

Israel and Greece have good relations, but the government has been very critical of Israeli policies towards the Palestinian Authority, and the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has gained popularity in the co

It was the next best thing to the Pony Express, and an outright miracle that appeared out of nowhere. Last week four Israelis died and at least a dozen others were injured; but at least 250 Israelis were saved and hundreds of others as well, because a group was resourceful.

Seizing a ‘window of opportunity’ when it came galloping by, a group of Israelis huddled in a tiny wooden shack – a tea house in the mountain pass of Thorong La — over writing a call for help in Hebrew as a Himalayan blizzard raged outside.

“There are Israelis trapped in the tea shop at the pass,” wrote Rotem Snir. “Lives are in danger. Help us. Thank you.”

A Nepali porter took their note and rode out on horseback into the storm, hoping to reach the camp they described passing on their way up the mountain. They themselves were stuck at 18,000 feet above sea level, and for the remainder of the storm would remain there – a decision that saved their lives.

The porter, meanwhile, found three Israeli hikers and delivered the note.

Upon reading it, they immediately contacted the Israeli Embassy in Kathmandu.

The local Chabad House was transformed into a command center. The Kathmandu Chabad House sees hundreds – make that thousands – of Israeli backpackers every year; it’s the traditional pit stop on the way up or down the Himalayas. It’s also the venue for the biggest seder in the world – at the top of the world – one where the supplies literally have to be brought in on horseback.

Rabbi Yechezkel Lifshiftz, Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Kathmandu and head of the Chabad House, responded to the flood of emails from worried parents and constantly updated a Google spreadsheet with data on Israelis who were out in the storm.

Israeli volunteers helped work the phones and exchange information with the Israeli Embassy.

More than 400 Israelis were on the “watch and pray” list, coded by trekking agency.

By Monday, search teams were wrapping up operations, and at the Kathmandu Chabad House, an Israeli psychotherapist was scheduled to lead a group session. The bulletin board showed that medical care was available from Israeli doctors.

Those who stayed in the teahouse discovered how miraculous it was that they had managed to reach shelter when they did.

One of the group, Jacob Megreli, 24, told the Wall Street Journal that he and another man rescued an Israeli buried in snow that rose higher than his head. Only the tips of his upraised hands showed above the sparkling white trail, tipping off the searchers. After that, he told the New York-based newspaper, his group found at least one body every 20 minutes along the trail.

Of the hundreds who made it to safety that Monday in the storm, 200 to 250 were Israelis, according to embassy figures. Hundreds more were from other nations. Nepali villagers, mountain guides and helicopter pilots worked tirelessly to rescue whoever they could.

By Wednesday, when the storm cleared out, 33 people had lost their lives, according to Nepal’s Home Ministry. Four were Israeli.

Had it not been for the miracle of a tiny wooden teahouse, a piece of notebook paper and a Sherpa pony express, who knows how many more …

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer issued a statement on behalf of the Israeli government making clear that Deputy Minister Danny Danon’s criticisms of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry are not the views of the Israeli government and represent only Danon’s personal views.

The clear, concise statement was issued on Thursday, May 1, from the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.:

Deputy Minister Danny Danon’s views of Secretary Kerry do not reflect the views of the Government of Israel. Israel deeply appreciates Secretary Kerry’s efforts to advance peace with the Palestinians.

We do not believe that Secretary Kerry has tried to threaten Israel, and we believe that his decades of support for Israel reflect an abiding commitment to Israel’s security and its future.

An op-ed of Danon’s that appeared in Politico on Wednesday was critical of Kerry, but hardly threatening or undiplomatic, nor did it miss the mark in capturing the feelings of so many Israelis and Israel supporters in response to Kerry’s ongoing, aggressive efforts to impose a “solution” to a currently unsolvable problem.

There is no doubt that Secretary Kerry has strongly supported Israel throughout his three decades in public service. This is why he, like other true friends and allies of Israel, need to understand that we will never sign diplomatic agreements endangering our security and reneging on the rights to our historic homeland as a result of international pressure or threats. For more than 2,000 years, we have ended all our prayers with a call for peace, and Israel continues to do all within its power to achieve this lofty goal. The world, however, should not view this yearning as a weakness that can be exploited for the sake of scoring points or claiming a hollow foreign-policy victory.

So why did the government of Israel feel the need to distance itself so categorically from Danon’s op–ed? Two theories: one, the title of the op-ed is “We Will Not Be Threatened.” That’s strong language, although it is unclear who gave it the heading, Politico or Danon himself. That headline may actually be more than the Israeli government feels comfortable having one of its senior members state in any format that appears to be the word of the Israeli government.

And two, the American government has come down like a ton of bricks on any criticism of any sort emanating from the Jewish grains of sand in the Middle East.

When Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon criticized Kerry in a private meeting behind closed doors earlier this year, he was forced to speak words of atonement after repeated public admonishments from Washington.

In other words, Danon’s title, suggesting that Washington is threatening Israel, may have been accurate.

Belgian police have arrested a man whom they suspect of planning an attack against Israeli diplomats in Brussels.

The police department of Uccle, the Brussels suburb where the Israeli embassy is located, confirmed on Tuesday the Oct. 17 arrest of one man who is thought to have tried to enter the embassy while carrying a concealed knife.

Security personnel from the embassy handed over the suspect to local police after discovering the knife in a security check. The suspect was not named, but the French-language Jewish news site lemondejuif.info reported he had converted to Islam.

He was placed in a psychiatric institution for observation after displaying erratic behavior while in custody.

A second man, an Iranian national who also was not named, was detained by police later that day on suspicion that he gathered intelligence on the embassy. He was released shortly after police officers detained him, RTL reported. Police said there was no evidence linking the Iranian to the man who allegedly tried to conceal the knife.

In response to the latest European ban on Brit Mila (circumcision), MK Nissan Slomiansky (Bayit Yehudi) has put forward the proposal to utilize the diplomatic immunity and extraterritorial status of Israel’s embassies, and allow Jewish families in Europe to perform their Brit Mila ceremonies within the Israeli embassy’s walls.

Jewish Home Knesset Member Nissan Slomiansky

Slomiansky wrote to Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin stating, “We are witnessing the winds of Antisemitism again blowing through Europe, this time under the guise of humanism and health. It started with the ban on Shechitah (kosher slaughter of animals) that began in a few countries such as Sweden and Poland and it is now expanding throughout Europe. Throughout Jewish history, since the time of Abraham, Jews have given everything to fulfill Brit Mila, and we will continue, with Israel, to do so.”

Slomiansky said that Israel must let European Jews know that in every European country where Brit Mila is banned, Israel will open the embassies to them, where, on Israeli soil, they can perform Brit Mila without breaking the (local) laws.

One wonders if the Israeli embassies will soon be building Shechitah facilities too.